Opening up fireplace

[August]

As the title suggests I'm opening up a fireplace.. hopefully this is the right section for my question!
I'm opening it up for decorative purposes (it won't be used as a working fireplace) so I was hoping to find a nicely bricked up builder's opening under the plaster which could easily be opened up. I've found this instead. It looks to me like the back of an earlier fireplace and it's made from stone or brick. (I should probably mention the house is a small Victorian terraced house.) I'm definitely not a fireplace expert so before I start hacking off anymore plaster I was wondering if there will be a builder's opening at all, or would this brick/stone fire back thingy have been built in when the house was first built??
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Untitled

• August
• 23 Mar 2013
• 1

Untitled

• August
• 23 Mar 2013
• 1

 

[stuart45]

That's the fire back which can easily be taken out. There will be some brick rubble at the back and sides which can also be removed.

 

[sean70london]

Hey mate ,

If you remove the liners , you will have a rectangular opening most likely in rough brickwork. ( un-pointed , bond all over the place , maybe with mixed materials). You wont know till you remove it to be honest. Not all stacks are built the same either. Some have a "flat back" and some "over-sail" or "corbel" , depending on how the architect wanted it built.

Id suggest finding out if the stack has any clay flu liners in place as that's not an original fitting. Be wary as the stack may be full of rubble or even Vermiculite. hard to say with out exposing it.

Depending on how new the stack itself is , you could expose the outside plaster and find its built in stocks and possible have a camber arch over it , Or you could be unlucky and find its been butchered about and a concrete lintel has been slapped in and stitched back in in with block work or flettons ( common bricks)

Is it just the internal opening you wish to have as decorative ?

 

[tony1851]

If it's a Victorian terrace house, it's unlikely to have clay flue liners; most were just parged.

 

[sean70london]

Agreed , If its the original stack. People do tend to renovate from time to time.

 

[August]

Thanks for the speedy replies! Yes, I was just wanting to have the internal opening as a decorative feature. I'll keep on chipping off the plaster and see what I find. Any advice as to what I can use to get the plaster off with? I've been using a hammer and chisel which has been fine so far as it has been a pretty thin layer, but now I'm finding it really difficult to chip away at as there seems to be a thick layer of cement/concrete (???) under the top layer of plaster. Thanks again!